Impact of hypothyroidism on the development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: A 4-year retrospective cohort study.
10.3350/cmh.2015.21.4.372
- Author:
Kil Woo LEE
1
;
Ki Bae BANG
;
Eun Jung RHEE
;
Heon Ju KWON
;
Mi Yeon LEE
;
Yong Kyun CHO
Author Information
1. Department of Gastroenterology, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. choyk2004.cho@samsung.com
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
Hypothyroidism;
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease
- MeSH:
Adult;
Aged;
Cohort Studies;
Female;
Follow-Up Studies;
Humans;
Hypothyroidism/*complications/*diagnosis;
Incidence;
Kaplan-Meier Estimate;
Liver/ultrasonography;
Male;
Middle Aged;
Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease/*complications/*diagnosis/epidemiology;
Proportional Hazards Models;
Retrospective Studies;
Risk Factors;
Thyrotropin/analysis;
Thyroxine/analysis
- From:Clinical and Molecular Hepatology
2015;21(4):372-378
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
BACKGROUND/AIMS: Hypothyroidism is reported to contribute to the development of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). We compared the risk of the development of NAFLD among three groups with different thyroid hormonal statuses (control, subclinical hypothyroidism, and overt hypothyroidism) in a 4-year retrospective cohort of Korean subjects. METHODS: Apparently healthy Korean subjects without NAFLD and aged 20-65 years were recruited (n=18,544) at health checkups performed in 2008. Annual health checkups were applied to the cohort for 4 consecutive years until December 2012. Based on their initial serum-free thyroxine (fT4) and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels, they were classified into control, subclinical hypothyroidism (TSH >4.2 mIU/L, normal fT4), and overt hypothyroidism (TSH >4.2 mIU/L, fT4 <0.97 ng/dL) groups. NAFLD was diagnosed on the basis of ultrasonography findings. RESULTS: NAFLD developed in 2,348 of the 18,544 subjects, representing an overall incidence of 12.7%: 12.8%, 11.0%, 12.7% in the control, subclinical hypothyroidism, and overt hypothyroidism groups, respectively. The incidence of NAFLD did not differ significantly with the baseline thyroid hormonal status, even after multivariate adjustment (subclinical hypothyroidism group: hazard ratio [HR]=0.965, 95% confidence interval [CI]=0.814-1.143, P=0.67; overt hypothyroidism group: HR=1.255, 95% CI=0.830-1.899, P=0.28). CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that the subclinical and overt types of hypothyroidism are not related to an increased incidence of NAFLD.
